After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and LORD – and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

John 13:12-17

We understand why Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. But why Judas? Jesus knew he was stooping down to serve the one who would soon stoop to perform history’s worst act of treachery. Jesus was performing the most menial of tasks for a person who treated the Creator of the universe as being someone worth no more than 30 pieces of silver. Knowingly, the One whose name is associated with giving life got His hands dirty to serve the one whose name would stand for betrayal and death for the rest of time.

We are not called to serve only those who are like us, or even those who care for us. We are called to serve all people - the good, the bad and everybody in between. When was the last time you "washed the feet" of someone like Judas?

It is difficult to stand on a pedestal

and wash the feet of those below.

Our Daily Bread – March 24, 2004